By Rahul Banerji
Hero Order of Merit leader Pranavi Urs opened with a 5-under par 67 on day one of the Hero WPGT event at Prestige Golfshire near Bangalore on Wednesday.
It gave the Mysore golfer a three-shot lead over Asmitha Sathish (70) even as amateurs, Vidhatri Urs and Rishika Muralidhar shared third place on 1-under 71.
Pranavi won the first and fourth legs of the Tour and finished runner-up in the fifth.
The 19-year-old began with a birdie and picked up more shots on the third and fifth holes.
A bogey on seven was the only blemish on the front nine, which Pranavi played in 4-under 32 as she also birdied eight and nine.
She then made it four birdies in a row on the 10th and 11th at which point, she was 6-under with seven holes to go.
Tripping up
An unfortunate double bogey stalled progress somewhat but Pranavi steadied herself with three pars and a final birdie on the par-5 16th.
She closed with two pars for 67.
Asmitha also opened with a birdie but had no more on the front nine against one bogey for an even par 36.
On the back nine she started with birdies on 10 and 11 but dropped a shot on 13 before picking a final birdie on 16 for her 70.
Amateur Rishika had three birdies against two bogeys on the front nine and parred the entire back nine. Vidhatri started with a bogey and birdied 10 and 12 thereafter.
Neha Tripathi, who has not tasted victory on the Hero WPGT for some time, opened with 72 which included four birdies and four bogeys.
Ridhima Dilawari had two birdies and two bogeys in her first seven holes and then parred the remaining 11 in her card of 72.
Neha and Ridhima were tied for fifth with Ishvari Prasanna, Jahanvi Bakshi, Siddhi Kapoor and Jyotsana Singh.
Trimann Saluja, the only player to land an eagle – on the par-5 third – was tied 11 with Astha Madan.
Other well-known names lower down the order included Afshan Fatima (75) at T14, Seher Atwal (76) at T17 and Lakmehar Pardesi (77) at T21.
Scores and round 2 tee times
8:30 am: Agrima Manral 81; Suchitra Ramesh 80; Marshneil Prasad 80
8:40 am: Saanvi Somu (A) 78; Lakhmehar Pardesi 77; Heena Kang (A) 77
8:50 am: Anaggha Venkatesh 77; Rhea Purvi Saravanan 77; Disha Kavery 77
9:05 am: Jahnavi Prakhya (A) 77; Rhea Jha 76; Shweta Mansingh 76
9:15 am: Durga Nittur 76; Seher Atwal 76; Khushi Khanijau 75
9:25 am: Afshan Fatima 75; Jia Kataria (A) 75; Gauri Karhade 74
9:40 am: Astha Madan 73; Trimann Saluja 73; Jyotsana Singh 72
9:50 am: Siddhi Kapoor 72; Jahanvi Bakshi 72; Ishvari Prasanna 72
10 am: Ridhima Dilawari 72; Neha Tripathi 72; Vidhatri Urs (A) 71
10:10 am: Rishika Muralidhar (A) 71; Asmitha Sathish 70; Pranavi Urs 67
Also read: Ridhima, Neha look for early gains as Hero WPGT resumes at Golfshire
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